


Only Twenty-Five Cents

by YodelingProspector



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Jealousy, Sentient Objects, Toy Capsule Machine, claw machine, gumball machine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-27 22:39:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16228751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YodelingProspector/pseuds/YodelingProspector
Summary: The point of view of a gumball machine.





	Only Twenty-Five Cents

The gumball machine stood tall and proud in the entrance of the restaurant, ready to give its treats to anybody with a quarter. They never came just for the gumballs, they came for a full meal, but the gumball machine delighted in spreading some sweetness and joy around.

 

Children would stop and stare longingly at the rainbow of gumballs in its clear, plastic sphere. They would pull on their parents' hands, asking for a quarter. Some of them would already have a quarter in their pockets, and on one occasion, a little boy gleefully snatched a shiny silver coin from the floor.

 

No matter how they got the money, it always ended the same. The child would jam the quarter eagerly into the gumball machine's slot, and watch in delight as it sent a bright ball of gum spiraling down the tube to the little door at the bottom.

 

For years, life was sweet. The gumball machine gave candy to children or smooching couples having a romantic date at the restaurant.

 

Suddenly, there was an imposter.

 

The new machine was boxy, not round and welcoming like the gumball machine. It was full of plastic capsules containing cheap toys.

 

The gumball machine did not like the capsule toy machine at all. It now had to endure snide remarks from its new companion, about how its treasures were so much better, because they wouldn't disappear once they were eaten. The gumball machine scoffed. Like anybody kept those capsule toys. They probably got lost under the kid's bed by the next day.

 

A rivalry sprung up between them. Children would clutch a quarter and look from the gumball machine to its rival and back again, trying to decide which prize was worth their shiny coin. The gumball machine couldn't deny it offered only a temporary treat, but surely its bounty was so much more enjoyable than those stupid toys in plastic bubbles.

 

Whenever it was picked, the gumball machine would smugly think about how kids got to watch the gumball travel down the spiraling ramp. With the capsule machine, they just heard a doll clunk before picking their plastic bubble from the prize door at the bottom.

 

The capsule machine would snicker at the gumball machine when a child chose a toy capsule instead, even though a child would probably die if they ate that.

 

The gumball machine never thought it would happen, but it soon began to miss the days when it was just it and the capsule machine competing for attention. For the restaurant owners had added a third machine- a claw machine that dwarfed both other machines. The claw machine had flashing lights around the edges, displaying the plush toys inside, and music blaring that was supposed to be cheerful, but it was really mocking the other machines.

 

After that, most of the kids would ignore the gumball machine and the plastic capsule machine entirely. They would race to the flashy, showoff claw machine, eagerly peering into the glass box.

 

Neither the gumball machine nor its old rival had flashing lights or music to attract people's eyes.

 

The gumball machine wondered if the plastic capsule machine felt inadequate next to the claw machine, which had toy prizes that seemed much grander. It had fluffy stuffed animals to snuggle and cherish. Who cherished the cheap toys in plastic bubbles?

 

Sometimes, the gumball machine felt inadequate, too. Stuffed animals lasted years, gumballs lasted a few hours at most. Still, it felt a bit of pride that it was the only machine offering candy.

 

The gumball and plastic capsule machines quickly learned that the claw machine was a big, dirty cheater. It would take the player's quarter, and they'd move the claw to grab a toy, only for the claw to drop it or never pick it up in the first place.

 

The gumball machine couldn't understand why people would waste their quarters on a machine like that. The gumball machine prided itself in always gave what people paid for.

 

It watched yet another child try and win a stuffed animal from the sleazy claw machine. The claw loosely closed around a teddy bear's leg, so loosely that it didn't even budge the bear from its spot when the claw lifted back up.

 

The child cried out in justified annoyance. The gumball machine thought that the claw machine should have a sign loudly proclaiming _I'LL RIP YOU OFF!_ or perhaps _Throw your money away here!_

 

The gumball machine felt it should have a sign itself, reading _Got a quarter? Get a delicious gumball, guaranteed._

 

The child turned away from the claw machine in disgust. Sometimes they kept spending their quarters, only to get nothing in the end, but this child turned to look at the gumball machine.

 

The gumball machine stood tall and proud as the child approached, like so many children had before. The child put her last quarter in the slot, and twisted the crank.

 

The gumball machine sent a gumball travelling happily down the spiral chute. Green, to match the child's wide green eyes.

 

She popped it into her mouth and grinned. “Yum!”

 

The claw machine grumbled and flashed its lights, played its music, trying to entice the child to waste more money at it, but the girl just grinned, hugging the gumball machine around the middle.

 

That was the first time the gumball machine was ever hugged, but at that moment, everything was right in its world.

 

 


End file.
